An Australian company filed an application in Arizona for the environmental review of a power plant that will use an emerging solar thermal concept that does not use water.
In EnviroMission Limited’s solar tower design, the sun’s radiation is used to heat a large body of air under an expansive collector zone. The air is forced to move as hot wind through large turbines.
The company said its solar tower power station will create the conditions to cause hot wind to flow continuously through 32 pressure staged turbines each with a generating capacity of 6.25 megawatts.
The technique is still new for the solar industry in using the sun’s energy to move electric turbines. Today, the mainstream technology in this category is called concentrating solar power, which uses the sun’s rays to heat special liquids that generate steam.
 |
  |
One of the major advantages of a solar tower – also called solar updraft technology – over other renewable and traditional coal and nuclear energy producers is that it does not use any water in the energy production process, the company said.
EnviroMission took the first step to bring what could be the largest solar tower project in the world from conceptualization to reality in filing a notice of intent to construct its 400-megawatt Solar Tower Project in Arizona.
EnviroMission said on Wednesday that it had filed with the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee for an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility.
Obtaining the permit will be critical for the power station’s development and is the first step in the plant’s siting process.
“Coming on the heels of a number of failed attempts of other projects, it is great to see a commercially viable technology making strides toward ground breaking,” noted the La Paz County Board of Supervisors.
The certificate initiates an environmental review of the project. The siting board reviews all the details associated with the plant’s location and makes recommendations to the Arizona Corporation Commission whether to grant, deny or modify permit applications.
The proposed 400-MW Solar Tower project will consist of two solar tower facilities flaunting a capacity of 200 MW each.
EnviroMission claims that the solar plant will be capable of generating more than 2 million megawatt-hours of power annually – enough to meet the power demands of 400,000 homes.
This energy output will also offset more than 900,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, an amount achievable by removing 220,000 motor vehicles from the roads.
However, what really makes this facility unique from other solar plants is its water-saving feature, the company says.
A report by the United States Department of Energy reveals that coal, nuclear and heliostat concentrate solar power plants use approximately 500 gallons of water for every megawatt-hour of power produced.
The solar updraft process employed by the Solar Tower project does not require any water during the energy production process, thus it will reportedly decrease the use of about 528 million gallons of potable water in Arizona each year.
“The Solar Tower’s zero water, cutting edge technology should be embraced by all affected stakeholders,» it added.
